Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F265/00—Macromolecular compounds obtained by polymerising monomers on to polymers of unsaturated monocarboxylic acids or derivatives thereof as defined in group C08F20/00
  • C08F265/04—Macromolecular compounds obtained by polymerising monomers on to polymers of unsaturated monocarboxylic acids or derivatives thereof as defined in group C08F20/00 on to polymers of esters
  • C08F265/06—Polymerisation of acrylate or methacrylate esters on to polymers thereof
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F2/00—Processes of polymerisation
  • C08F2/12—Polymerisation in non-solvents
  • C08F2/16—Aqueous medium
  • C08F2/22—Emulsion polymerisation
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F265/00—Macromolecular compounds obtained by polymerising monomers on to polymers of unsaturated monocarboxylic acids or derivatives thereof as defined in group C08F20/00
  • C08F265/02—Macromolecular compounds obtained by polymerising monomers on to polymers of unsaturated monocarboxylic acids or derivatives thereof as defined in group C08F20/00 on to polymers of acids, salts or anhydrides
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D151/00—Coating compositions based on graft polymers in which the grafted component is obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds; Coating compositions based on derivatives of such polymers
  • C09D151/003—Coating compositions based on graft polymers in which the grafted component is obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds; Coating compositions based on derivatives of such polymers grafted on to macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving unsaturated carbon-to-carbon bonds
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F2500/00—Characteristics or properties of obtained polyolefins; Use thereof
  • C08F2500/17—Viscosity
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F2500/00—Characteristics or properties of obtained polyolefins; Use thereof
  • C08F2500/24—Polymer with special particle form or size
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • C09D—COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR
  • C09D11/00—Inks
  • C09D11/02—Printing inks
  • C09D11/10—Printing inks based on artificial resins
  • C09D11/106—Printing inks based on artificial resins containing macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
  • C09D11/107—Printing inks based on artificial resins containing macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds from unsaturated acids or derivatives thereof
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M15/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, with macromolecular compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment
  • D06M15/19—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, with macromolecular compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment with synthetic macromolecular compounds
  • D06M15/21—Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
  • D06M15/263—Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds of unsaturated carboxylic acids; Salts or esters thereof
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06N—WALL, FLOOR, OR LIKE COVERING MATERIALS, e.g. LINOLEUM, OILCLOTH, ARTIFICIAL LEATHER, ROOFING FELT, CONSISTING OF A FIBROUS WEB COATED WITH A LAYER OF MACROMOLECULAR MATERIAL; FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06N3/00—Artificial leather, oilcloth or other material obtained by covering fibrous webs with macromolecular material, e.g. resins, rubber or derivatives thereof
  • D06N3/04—Artificial leather, oilcloth or other material obtained by covering fibrous webs with macromolecular material, e.g. resins, rubber or derivatives thereof with macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
  • D06N3/042—Acrylic polymers

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer composition having a bimodal or a polymodal particle size distribution with high solid content and to alkali soluble resins suitable for producing these polymers. It also relates to a multistage process for producing such an emulsion polymer and to the use of this polymer in applications especially where fast drying is desired. Accordingly, the resulting emulsion polymers can be used in film forming and coating compositions, for instance in making paint compositions having rapid drying times.
• Emulsion polymerization is a well-known process for producing water based acrylic emulsions. Due to the increasing strictness of environmental regulations the importance of water-based emulsion polymers is increasing every day. These are dispersions of polymer particles in an aqueous medium and are used in a wide variety of applications such as adhesives, paints, coatings, paper coatings, paper impregnations, textile coatings, wood coatings, construction and building materials such as caulks and sealants, waterproofing roof coatings, cement additives and etc. The importance of emulsion polymerization process has grown significantly since the second half of the 20th century due to a wide variety of applications of water-based latexes.
• Emulsion polymerization is a type of free radical polymerization process which most of the time starts with an emulsion incorporating water, at least one monomer and a surfactant.
• the resulting polymers produced in such a way are actually polymer particles dispersed in the water phase.
• surfactants are of paramount importance in order to stabilise the polymer particles, both during and after polymerization.
• surfactants provide sites for particle nucleation, controls the particle size and provides colloidal stability as the particles are formed.
• surfactants in conventional emulsion polymerization process have various functions such as affecting the number and size of the emulsion particles formed, providing stability, as particles continue to grow in the dispersion and during post-polymerization processing.
• typical conventional surfactants generally used in emulsion polymerization are anionic surfactants such as fatty acid soaps, alkyl carboxylates, alkyl sulfates and alkyl sulfonates, non-ionic surfactants such as ethoxylated alkylphenol or fatty acids and cationic surfactants such as amines, nitriles and etc.
• First method is the surfactant free emulsion polymerization.
• reactive surfactants are employed, which substantially improves the performance of the polymers because surfactants have the capacity of reacting with the monomer and so are fixed on the surface of the particle.
• economic considerations prevent producers to completely replace the conventional surfactants.
• it is hard to convert all these polymerizable surfactants and the amount of surfactants that are not converted will act in a very similar way to conventional surfactants and so they will effect the application properties and the characteristics of the film forming compositions.
• polymeric surfactants are used as the stabilizing agents in emulsion polymerization process.
• These surfactants typically have a lower molecular weight in a range between 300 to 50,000 Daltons.
• These polymeric surfactants may be water soluble, alkali soluble or acid soluble and they are used for the same function as conventional surfactants in emulsion polymerization and besides provide additional performance properties which are not expected or not as good when conventional surfactants are employed. These additional properties may be gloss development, flow, levelling control, dry time control and improved resistance properties such as water resistance.
• Alkali soluble resins are a specific type of polymeric surfactants which have both hydrophobic moieties and carboxylic acid functional groups. It is already known how to produce alkali soluble resins (ASRs) and alkali soluble resin (ASR) supported polymers by emulsion polymerization process. Actually, utilizing macromolecules as surfactants in conventional emulsion polymerization is widely used for producing water-based latexes with improved colloidal properties. This type of an emulsion polymerization process is also referred to as supported emulsion polymerization wherein alkali soluble resins are the support resins, according to this terminology.
• the support resins are used in addition to or completely replacing conventional surfactants in order to colloidally stabilize the growing polymer particles in the emulsion.
• the polymeric support resins generally have an average molecular weights in between the range of 300 to 50,000 Daltons and typically they are 300, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 to 10,000 or 20,000. Although they may differ in a wide range based on the intended use, overall their average molecular weights should be lower than 50,000.
• ASRs alters the film formation process resulting with a variety of properties in coating compositions comprising emulsion polymers produced with alkali soluble resins.
• Conventional surfactants are mainly used for stabilization of emulsion polymers. This can also be achieved by alkali soluble resins which provide electrosteric stabilization to the latex particles so that the amount of conventional surfactants can be decreased or they can even be completely replaced.
• alkali soluble resins have been possible in a variety of different fields such as removable protective coatings, wood coatings, pressure sensitive adhesives, waterbased graphic arts products, binders for ink applications, leather finishes, paper coatings and construction materials.
• EP 0 816 402 discloses surfactant-free aqueous polymer dispersions (P) which contain neutralised polymer (A) containing acid groups. These polymer dispersions are prepared in water, by radical polymerization of ethylenic unsaturated compounds (A1) containing carboxyl groups and further carboxyl group-free ethylenic unsaturated compounds (A2) without the addition of low molecular weight surfactants.
• US 4,151,143 discloses a 2-stage method for preparing a surfactant free polymer emulsion product.
• a mixture of polymerizable monomers is formed, then said mixture is polymerized, neutralized and a dispersion of the polymer in water is formed.
• a second mixture of polymerizable monomers is formed and it is combined with the polymer dispersion formed in the first stage and heated in order to effect polymerization.
• WO2015116916 discloses a surfactant free composition comprising an aqueous emulsion of a styrene acrylic or acrylic support resin having acid functional repeat units and a polymer of a hydrophobic monomer.
• EP2448983 discloses a polymerization process to copolymerize hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated C4-C28 olefins with polar monomers such as acrylates.
• the polymerization is carried out in an aqueous medium where a polymeric support is used in order to stabilize the polymerization product.
• WO 2004099261 discloses a process to prepare a polymer dispersion using a substantially surfactant free emulsion polymerization process, a polymer dispersion which is the outcome of this process and the use of said polymer dispersion in a variety of applications.
• Polymer dispersion according to the disclosure has a very small average particle size and a high solid content.
• EP1448611 discloses a polymer composition free of organic solvents, produced in 2 stages wherein in the first stage a first polymer is produced comprising chain transfer agents prefarably alpha methyl styrene dimer. In the second stage first polymer is emulsion polymerized in the absence or the substantial absence of surfactants.
• EP1030890 discloses polymeric compositions referred as support resins which may act as the primary emulsifying surfactant.
• EP 0 525 977 A1 discloses a support polymer (emulsion binder) for traffic marking paints produced with styrene and acrylic acid monomers and have an acid value of between about 50 to 250. It also discloses a hydrophobic emulsion polymer comprised of acrylic ester monomers and optionally including styrene. It is mentioned that due to high solids and low water content, the waterborne traffic marking paint is fast drying.
• Typical emulsion polymers found in the market have solids content lower than 55% by weight. In fact, most of the time solid contents are even lower, -as it is well known in the art, when higher solids content is targeted in the emulsion polymerization process, the viscosity rises sharply as the solids content increases. High viscosity products are not only difficult to handle, they are also risky to produce, tending to generate gels and grit during processing, if not resulting in partial or total coagulation of the product. However, highly concentrated latexes have many advantages such as faster drying rates and lower shipping cost for the same amount of active content. Therefore, synthesis of latexes having high solids and low viscosity is a major source of interest in this field.
• U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,298 describes a composition for polymer dispersions with high solids in which a very precise combination of surfactants is prescribed (at least one sulfosuccinate based surfactant together with a fatty alcohol ethoxylate and sulphated one).
• EP-A 784060 relates to a process for preparing polymer dispersions having a high solids content of more than 67%, in which carboxyl-functional monomers are polymerized with further ethylenically unsaturated monomers in the presence of a surfactant and where further surfactant is added at a monomer conversion of from 40% to 60%.
• U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,726 discloses highly concentrated, bimodal, aqueous synthetic resin dispersions by the emulsion polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated monomers, in the presence of emulsifiers and prescribes the use of two polymer latexes of different particle size to be included in the initial charge and the monomers are polymerized subsequently.
• This object has been achieved by a multistage polymerization process wherein in the first stage an acid group containing polymer and in the second stage a polymer with a polymodal, preferably a bimodal particle size distribution is produced using the acid group containing polymer of the first stage and without adding any conventional surfactants.
• the invention therefore relates to solutions or dispersions of the following water-based emulsion polymers:
• a mixture of water and alkali soluble resin or if two or more resins are produced a mixture of water and the different ASRs is obtained which may be present as an aqueous solution or a dispersion of at least partially neutralized alkali soluble resins, depending on the solubility properties.
• ASR alkali soluble resin
• the second stage a mixture of at least one alkali soluble resin and at least one ASR supported polymer in the form of an aqueous dispersion is obtained.
• the invention also relates to a multistage process for producing the above-mentioned alkali soluble resins and alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymers.
• the amount of carboxylic acid used while synthesizing the alkali soluble resin has an influence on the particle size distribution of the resin supported emulsion polymer produced in the second stage.
• This finding has been used according to the invention in order to produce a polymer composition with a polymodal, preferably a bimodal particle size distribution without adding any conventional surfactants and instead using alkali soluble resins. Therefore, it has been possible to reach higher solid contents with respect to prior art resin supported polymers, at still low viscosities.
• the rate of drying is even more than the sum of the drying rates resulting from being surfactant free and resulting from having a high solid content, pointing out to a synergistic effect between these 2 characteristics. Consequently, it is an aspect of the present invention also to improve fast drying by the combination of having a high solid content and being an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer, produced without addition of conventional surfactants.
• the suitable applications for the novel high solid alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymers may be, textile and ink formulations. They can also be used in a variety of applications such as adhesives, and construction materials
• Amphihilic polymers composed of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups, stabilise the polymer particles as a result of the hydrophobic interactions between its molecules and form sites like micelles. According to the theory of stabilisation, these structures that have dissolving parts in alkali phase form steric barriers around the polymer particles. In order to prevent the desorption of molecules, stabilising structures that are fixed on the surface of particles are present in the stabilising chain.
• amphiphilic core-shell polymers are generally synthesized by emulsion polymerization using alkali soluble resins.
• Alkali soluble resins are copolymers obtained from monomers having hydrophilic groups such as carboxylic acid or acid anhydride and some hydrophobic monomers.
• the alkali soluble resins are dissolved in alkali solutions and micelle like aggregates are formed once the concentration is more than critical aggregate concentration.
• monomers are polymerized inside the aggregates in order to form core shell polymers.
• Alkali soluble resins are used in high amounts in order to maintain colloidal stability in emulsion polymerization. Therefore, they act like a hydrophilic shell having a sufficient thickness, surrounding the outer surface of the core polymers.
• First type includes the random copolymers of carboxylic acids such as acrylic acid or methacrylic acid and hydrophobic monomers such as styrene and butyl acrylate. These copolymers may be used as polymeric emulsifiers in order to prepare latexes having colloidal stability.
• the other type is styrene-maleic anhydride (SMA) copolymer resins.
• the alkali soluble resins of the present invention are produced in order to have a solid content between the range 20 to 35%.
• the solid content is between 23 to 28%, most preferably 25 to 27%.
• the solid contents of the ASRs used in the preferred embodiments of the present invention have a solid content of about 26,5%.
• the present invention it has been possible to provide a method for producing an alkali soluble resin supported polymer by using emulsion polymerization process, wherein the particle size distribution is surprisingly controlled over a wide range.
• This method is utilized mainly for producing alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymers that allow for a polymodal or preferably a bimodal particle size distribution and consequently a high solid content in the resulting emulsion polymer.
• a high solid content alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer having a polymodal, preferably a bimodal particle size distribution.
• novel emulsion polymer dispersion produced according to the method of the present invention can be used for the manufacture of a coating material that has rapid drying times, improved water resistance, gloss development, levelling control and freeze thaw stability.
• the present invention also relates to a method to prepare the alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer in 2 stages wherein,
• stage 1 of the process a mixture of monomers comprising about 1-25%, preferably 3-15% and most preferably 4-12% by weight of at least one polymerizable carboxylic acid and at least one other copolymerizable monomer are used. (percentages are based on the total amount of first stage monomers).
• carboxylic acid groups / carboxylic functionality it is possible to use ethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic and/or polycarboxylic acids, preferably mono- and dicarboxylic acids or mixtures thereof.
• unsaturated monocarboxylic acids acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or crotonic acid and as unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, maleic acid, itaconic acid, mesaconic acid, fumaric acid, methylenemalonic acid, citraconic acid may be used either individually or in a mixture of one or more of these. Based on the intended application, it is possible to arrange a combination of one or more of the carboxylic acids from the list. For the preferred embodiments of the present invention methacrylic acid is selected.
• the monomers of this group can be used in the copolymerization in the form of the free acid or in partially or completely neutralized with alkali metal bases or ammonium bases.
• All radically polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated compounds not containing carboxyl groups are suitable to use either individually or as a mixture of 2 or more monomers, as the comonomer(s) besides the carboxyl group containing monomers.
• Suitable comonomer(s) may be one or more of C1-C8 alkyl acrylates and/or alkyl methacrylates, C2-C4 hydroxyalkyl esters of a carboxylic acid and/or (meth)acrylamide
• a suitable comonomer may be one or more of acrylic acid esters, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl or 2-ethylhexyl acrylates or methacrylates, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate or methacrylate, 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate or methacrylate and ethyl hexyl acrylate.
• Styrene, vinyl toluene or acrylamide may be used together with or instead of the acrylic esters in the monomer mixture.
• methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, styrene, acrylonitrile is used either individually or as a mixture of 2 or more monomers, as stage 1 co-monomer(s).
• stage 1 monomer mixture comprises 4-12% by weight of methacrylic acid as the carboxy functional monomer and about 13% by weight of ethyl acrylate together with 75-83% by weight of methyl methacrylate as the co-monomers. Based on the required Tg value of the intended application the ethyl acrylate amount may be adjusted in a range of 5-20%, by weight.
• stage 1 monomer mixture comprises 4-12% by weight of methacrylic acid as the carboxy functional monomer and about 13% by weight of styrene together with 75-83% by weight of methyl methacrylate as the co-monomers. Based on the required Tg value of the intended application the styrene amount may be adjusted in a range of 5-20%, by weight.
• stage 1 monomer mixture comprises about 4-12% by weight of methacrylic acid as the carboxy functional monomer and about 13% by weight of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate or acrylonitrile or butyl acrylate together with about 75-83% by weight of methyl methacrylate as the co-monomers.
• the 2-ethylhexyl acrylate or acrylonitrile or butyl acrylate amount may be changed in a range of 5-20%, by weight.
• the amount of comonomer(s) is/are 75 to 99%, preferably 85 to 97% and most preferably 88 to 96% by weight based on the total weight of the monomers of alkali soluble resins of the first stage.
• Table 1 shows the monomer compositions of different types of alkali soluble resins which have been produced in the first stage and will be used in the second stage, according to the present invention.
• the alkali soluble resins with a specific monomer composition will be referred throughout the present application with the letter assigned to it in the "ASR type" column.
• the alkali soluble resins produced in the first stage and will be used in the second stage, according to the present invention have a number average molecular weight of from about 300 to 50.000 Dalton, preferably between 10.000 - 20.000 Dalton.
• stage 2 of the multistage process for producing ASR supported emulsion polymer it appears to be important to replace conventional surfactants with support resins, so that the surfactant free composition contributes to the fast drying in suitable applications.
• care must be taken since it might become very difficult to control particle size distribution without conventional surfactants.
• stage 2 of the process monomer mixture (stage 2 monomers) either does not contain any acid functional monomer or contains at most 5% of one or more of acid functional monomers, by weight based on the total weight of stage 2 monomers.
• Stage 2 monomers may be one or more of C1-C8 alkyl acrylates and/or alkyl methacrylates, C2-C4 hydroxyalkyl esters of a carboxylic acid and/or (meth)acrylamide.
• they may be one or more of methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl (meth)acrylates, beta-hydroxyethyl and beta-hydroxypropyl (meth)acrylates, acrylamide and isobutoxymethyl acrylamide.
• stage 2 monomers Acrylonitrile or styrene may also be used either individually or be comprised in Stage 2 monomer mixture.
• the most preferred stage 2 monomers are styrene, butyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate which are used either individually or as a mixture of 2 or more, for the preparation of stage 2 monomer mixture.
• the mixture of stage 2 monomers comprises 50-70% by weight of butyl acrylate and 30-50% by weight of methyl methacrylate.
• the mixture of stage 2 monomers comprises 50-70% by weight of butyl acrylate and 30-50% by weight of styrene.
• Table 2 shows the specific ratios of stage 2 monomers to produce Polymer 1 and Polymer 2. TABLE 2 Monomer Ratios Used in ASR Supported Polymer Preparation (by weight of monomer with respect to total monomer amount of the second stage) Polymer BA (%) MMA (%) STY (%) 1 60 40 - 2 60 - 40
• stage 2 of the multistage process for producing an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer having a polymodal or preferably a bimodal particle size distribution which comprises at least one monomer and a free radical initiator the alkali soluble resins that are used as the support and/or stabilizer materials are present in an amount greater than 15 and up to 40 percent by weight based on the total amount of stage 2 monomers.
• the alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymers may be produced in the same reactor by continuing with the addition of stage 2 monomers or in a separate reactor by using the alkali soluble resins of the first stage produced beforehand.
• an aqueous polymer emulsion is provided, as used herein an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer.
• an object of the present invention is to provide an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer having a polymodal particle size distribution with still low viscosity and a high solid content.
• a multistage process for producing an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer wherein the first stage comprises the steps of, forming a mixture of first stage monomers comprising, from about 1 to 25% by weight of at least one carboxy functional monomer selected from the group comprising acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, crotonic acid, maleic acid, itaconic acid, mesaconic acid, fumaric acid, methylenemalonic acid, citraconic acid or mixtures thereof, from about 75 to 99% by weight of one or more other ethylenically unsaturated monomers different from the carboxy functional monomer but capable of copolymerizing with the carboxy functional monomer, where percentages are based on the total amount of first stage monomers, polymerizing said first stage monomer mixture in the presence of a polymerization catalyst, water and a chain transfer agent to form a polymer dispersion having an average molecular weight lower than 50.000 Dalton.
• carboxy functional monomer selected from the group comprising acrylic acid, methacrylic
• the second stage comprises the steps of, forming a mixture of second stage monomers comprising one or more of ethylenically unsaturated monomers, polymerizing said second stage monomer mixture in the presence of a polymerization catalyst and the alkali soluble resin produced in the first stage, wherein the resulting alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer has a polymodal particle size distribution.
• the monomers are selected for the alkali soluble resin in such proportion that the alkali soluble resin has carboxylic acid functionality.
• the alkali soluble resins may be dissolved in water through salt formation with an appropriate base, such as ammonia.
• an alkali soluble resin to be used as support and/or stabilizer in a surfactant free emulsion polymerization process is produced.
• the amount of carboxylic acid used for producing the alkali soluble resin is crucial in determining the particle size distribution of the resin supported emulsion polymer and this critical amount changes based on the (water solubility of the) co-monomer(s) used with the monomer having carboxylic functionality.
• ethyl acrylate is one of the co-monomers with methacrylic acid changing in an amount 4-12% by weight of total amount of stage 1 monomers and stage 2 monomer mixture comprises butyl acrylate (60%) and methyl methacrylate (40%)
• the average particle size of the resulting alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer produced in stage 2 is between 50 to 150 nanometers.
• the average particle size is 90 to 140 nanometers and besides a bimodal particle size distribution is obtained wherein 10-20% by volume are large particles having a particle size between 250 to 500 nanometers and 80-90% by volume are small particles between 50 to 250 nanometers, preferably between 50 to 120 nanometers.
• ethyl acrylate is one of the co-monomers with methacrylic acid changing in an amount 4-12% by weight of total amount of stage 1 monomers and stage 2 monomer mixture comprises butyl acrylate (60%) and styrene (40%)
• the average particle size of the resulting alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer produced in stage 2 is between 50 to 600 nanometers.
• the average particle size is between 400 to 600 nanometers and besides a bimodal particle size distribution is obtained wherein 40-65% by volume are large particles having a particle size between 600 to 900 nanometers and 35-60% by volume are small particles having a particle size between 50 to 150 nanometers, preferably between 80 to 120 nanometers.
• the average particle size is between 50 to 120 nanometers and besides a bimodal particle size distribution is obtained wherein 10-40% by volume are large particles having a particle size between 150 to 300 nanometers and 60-90% by volume are small particles having a particle size between 30 to 150 nanometers, preferably between 40 to 70 nanometers.
• stage 2 monomer mixture comprises butyl acrylate (60%) and methyl methacrylate (40%)
• the average particle size of the resulting alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer produced in stage 2 is between 100 to 250 nanometers.
• the average particle size is between 50 to 200 nanometers and besides a bimodal particle size distribution is obtained wherein 25-40% by volume are large particles having a particle size between 200 to 400 nanometers and 60-75% by volume are small particles having a particle size between 30 to 70 nanometers, preferably between 40 to 60 nanometers.
• the average particle size of the resulting alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer produced in stage 2 is between 150 to 250 nanometers.
• the average particle size is between 150 to 200 nanometers and besides a bimodal particle size distribution is obtained wherein 20-55% by volume are large particles having a particle size between 200 to 700 nanometers and 45-80% are small particles having a particle size between 30 to 150 nanometers, preferably between 40 to 100 nanometers.
• F type alkali soluble resins are used in the second stage of the process and stage 2 monomer mixture comprises butyl acrylate (60%) and styrene (40%).
• ASR-F alkali soluble resins
• stage 2 monomer mixture comprises butyl acrylate (60%) and styrene (40%).
• the average particle size changes between 100 to 400 nanometers with a bimodal particle size distribution.
• the percentage of large particles is 20-50% by volume with a particle size in between 200 to 800 nanometers wherein the percentage of small particles is 50-80% with a particle size in between 50 to 200 nanometers.
• the average particle size is about 96 nanometers with a bimodal particle size distribution of 74% by volume smaller particles (55nm) and 26% by volume larger particles (212nm).
• the average particle size is about 248 nanometers with a bimodal particle size distribution of 70% by volume smaller particles (132 nm) and 30% by volume larger particles (518 nm).
• the average particle size is about 378 nanometers with a bimodal particle size distribution of 60% by volume smaller particles (143 nm) and 40% by volume larger particles (730 nm).
• the components A water), B (surfactant), C (buffer), D (initiator: ammonium persulphate; APS), E (monomer mixture) and F (aqueous NH 4 OH) were prepared.
• the alkali soluble resins are prepared by adding components A, B and C to a reactor and then heating to a temperature of 80 °C under the low stream of inert N 2 gas. Also a part of components A, B and E were mixed together at another vessel in order to prepare component G. At 80 °C; 5% of component G was added to the reactor and stirred for 1 minute. Then a part of component D was added to the reactor to start the initial reaction.
• a monomer emulsion comprising; 290 parts of deionized water, 14.3 parts of Rhodafac RS 710, 35.75 parts of n-DDM, 48.4 parts of Methacrylic acid (MAA), 563.2 parts of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 16.02 parts of Ethyl acrylate (EA) was prepared. 50 parts of this monomer emulsion was set aside (pre-emulsion) and the rest was placed in a dosing funnel attached to one of the reactor's necks.
• MAA Methacrylic acid
• MMA methyl methacrylate
• EA Ethyl acrylate
• the reactor is kept at 90°C for 30 minutes and then cooled down to 80°C. 121 parts of ammonia dissolved in 121 parts of deionized water are added to the flask in 30 min. The white dispersion turns into clear, low viscosity solution. It is cooled down to 40 °C and discharged by filtering.
• the final latex polymer has a solid content of 27.5%, pH 9-11, viscosity is ⁇ 100 cps (LVT 3/20).
• alkali soluble resins produced according to the method of the present invention are presented in TABLE 1.
• the variables such as monomers and the amounts are mentioned together with the ASR name assigned to the specific type of alkali soluble resins.
• TABLE 3 detailed properties of the ASR types are presented.
• EA represents ethyl acrylate
• STY is styrene
• EHA is 2-ethylhexyl acrylate
• ACN is acrylonitrile
• BA butyl acrylate.
• Alkali Soluble Resins ASR Solid 25 ⁇ 2% (Thr:26,5) pH Vis. (cps) Tg theor.
• the components A (water), ASR (resin), C (monomer mixture: STY: BA, 40:60) and D (initiator: ammonium persulfate; APS) listed in table below were prepared by admixing components of each items.
• the resin supported emulsion polymers are prepared by adding components A and ASR to a reactor and heating to a temperature of 85 °C under a low stream of N 2 . Also rest of the component ASR and component C were mixed together at another vessel (component E). At 80°C; 5 % of E was added to the reactor and stirred for 1 minute, then a part of component D is added to the reactor to start initial reaction. After initial reaction rest of item C and item D were added to the reactor in a period of 60 minutes. After the addition, the reactor is kept at 90°C for 30 minutes and then cooled down to 40°C and discharged by filtering.
• Example 1 A monomer emulsion, consisting of; 113 parts of deionized water, 198 parts of F type Alkali soluble resin (Support resin- ASR-F), 100 parts of Methyl methacrylate MMA and 150 parts of Butyl acrylate BA was prepared. 30 parts of this monomer emulsion was set aside (pre-emulsion) and the rest was placed in a dosing funnel attached to one of the reactor's necks. 25 parts of deionized water and 198 parts of Alkali soluble resin (Support resin- ASR-F) are added to a 3-necked flask equipped with a stirrer, thermometer and a reflux condenser.
• the flask is heated to 80 °C and the pre-emulsion is added. 0.5 parts of ammonium persulphate dissolved in 16.6 parts of deionized water are introduced. Upon reaction of the pre-emulsion, the rest of the monomer emulsion is fed parallel to the reactor in a 60-minute period with 0,8 parts of ammonium persulphate dissolved in 25 parts of deionized water. After the addition, reactor is kept at 90°C for 30 minutes. Then cooled down to 40°C and discharged by filtering. The final latex polymer has a solid content of 42.5 %, pH 9-11, viscosity is ⁇ 100 cps (LVT 3/20).
• the components A (water), ASR (alkali soluble resin), C (stage 2 monomer mixture: MMA: BA, 40:60) and D (initiator: ammonium persulfate; APS) listed in table below were prepared.
• the resin supported emulsion polymers are prepared firstly by adding components A and ASR to a reactor and heating to a temperature of 85 °C under a low stream of inert N 2 gas. Also rest of the ASR and component C were mixed together at another vessel (component E). At 80°C; 5 % of component E was added to the reactor and stirred for 1 minute, then a part of component D is added to the reactor to start the initial reaction. After initial reaction rest of C and D were added to the reactor in a period of 60 minutes. After the addition, the reactor content is kept at 90°C for 30 minutes and then cooled down to 40°C and discharged by filtering.
• the particle size distribution of ASR supported polymers having similar monomer composition changes in a similar way based on the amount of methacrylic acid used as the carboxy functional monomer for the production of alkali soluble resin in the first stage.
• methacrylic acid amount used in the first stage for alkali soluble resin production increases, firstly ASR supported polymers having a broad particle size distribution (with larger average particle size) are produced in the second stage and as the increase in methacrylic acid continues, then the second stage starts resulting with polymers having a bimodal particle size distribution.
• the particle size distribution of ASR supported polymers reaches a narrow distribution with small particle sizes.
• BA / MMA based polymers results with a; large average particle size is obtained when methacrylic acid amount used in the first stage as the carboxylic acid, is between 4 - 4,5% with an average particle size of around 140 nm.
• bimodal particle size distribution is obtained when the methacrylic acid amount used in the first stage as the carboxylic acid, is between 4,5-6,0% with an average particle size between 99-140 nm.
• narrow particle size distribution with small particle sizes between 50-65 nm is obtained when the methacrylic acid amount used in the first stage as the carboxylic acid, is between 6 - 12 %.
• ASR supported polymers formed using alkali soluble resins having the same MAA amounts but synthesized by differentiation of the co-monomer in the structure particle size distribution varies depending on the water solubility of the co-monomer used. For instance monomers such as styrene is less soluble so particles are relatively bigger in comparison for the same amount of carboxylic acid with a different co-monomer. As the water solubility increases; it has been observed that polymers in which the oligomers formed using these monomers are used have broad distributions of particle size first, then bimodal structure, and finally the distribution becomes narrow and small.
• particle size distributions of ASR supported polymers can be manipulated by varying the amount of acid used in alkali soluble resin preparation based on the water solubility of co-monomer(s) and as a result bimodal particle size distributions may be formed in an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer.
• the method of the present invention can be used in order to produce an alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer, having a high solid content with low viscosity.
• the particle size distribution of ASR supported polymers changes depending on the water solubility of the co-monomer(s) used.
• the average particle size of ASR supported polymers decreases.
• the drying test results show that the fastest drying is obtained when styrene monomer is used in at least one of the stages, meaning that in order to obtain a fast drying coating styrene monomer should be preferred in the first stage for preparing the alkali soluble resin or in the second stage for producing the alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymer or most preferably in both of the stages.
• a comparison of a commercial polymer prepared by conventional surfactants and alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymers, in a paint formulation can be seen. Opacity, colour and gloss properties are similar for all. Scrub resistance and drying time are consistently better for alkali soluble resin supported emulsion polymers.
• the drying time results are measured by a drying time recorder and results are confirmed with FTIR analysis.

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